Weight Loss and Running

At my heaviest I was 247 lbs. I was almost a quarter of a thousand pounds, I wore a size 22. Knowing that I was that heavy made me want to lose weight but I was too lazy, made so many excuses. Fast forward to 2005 I was doing this diet called Out of Egypt which is where you eat only when you are hungry, I got down to 204 lbs, then I decided to join a gym, I told the trainer what I was doing and he told me that I was losing muscle and that I needed to eat 6 small meals a day. Well I did not eat 6 small meals I ate more than that and surprise I gained 34 pounds. 234!!! ugh. I really wanted to be thinner, I wanted to be healthier but I did not have the motivation. I had no inspiration.

I found my inspiration in my son Nathan.

Nate has joined the Navy, but before he could get in he had to lose some weight. So he started running and changed the way he ate. I watched him as the weight began to fall off. I told him one day that I wanted to run with him. Told him I probably could not keep up with him and that he should just leave me. He said okay. So off we went. We stretched first and then started running. I kept up with him for about 3 minutes then there was a gap, he looked back and I told him to keep going. He got to a point where he dropped to the ground and did push ups. I was able to catch up to him. But then he got up from his push ups and took off running again. I was never able to catch up again. But what I discovered that day was that I enjoyed running. It was freeing, it was as if life's problems don't matter when I run. I can listen to my music and enjoy being outside. Running doesn't cost anything well except you need a good pair of running shoes but that's about it. After discovering a love for running, I decided I wanted to do a 5k by the time I am 50 (7 weeks from now). So I downloaded this app called couch to 5k and have been using that to train for it. Training was going okay until I became ill and was in the hospital for 5 days. Due to my illness I will have to have surgery so I may not make the goal of doing the 5k by 50 but I intend to do a 5k this year.

So today I weigh 201 and have purchased a pair of pants that are size 14. I have not worn a size 14 since I was 15 years old that's 34 years ago. I want to weigh 150 so 51 pounds to go. I need to eat better though so that is what I am going to focus on next.

Another added benefit is that my daughter has seen the weight loss and want to workout with me! I am so happy about that.